Shownotes S1E3: There Will Be Blood (Part 1)
Visualising Menstruation is written, hosted, edited and produced by Dr Bee Hughes.
Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!): https://uppbeat.io/t/ra/flow-state
License code: KL36RERAGRJTA1OS
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Find out more about Bee at www.beehughes.co.uk and https://profiles.ljmu.ac.uk/6304-bee-hughes
The Visualising Menstruation project is supported by LJMU Faculty of Society + Culture funding.
Artists & Artworks
Anish Kapoor - Dirty Corner Gouache: https://anishkapoor.com/4095/untitled-76
Anish Kapoor - Lisson exhibition: https://www.lissongallery.com/exhibitions/anish-kapoor-96b01a03-f8c1-461d-84f4-89c6b7d82154
Arman’s Poubelles: https://www.armanstudio.com/artworks/poubelles/slideshow?view=thumbnails
Marisa Carr Dr Carnesky’s Incredible Bleeding Woman: https://carnesky.com/project/dr-carneskys-incredible-bleeding-woman/
Carnesky Archive - playlist including promo and info about Dr Carnesky’s Incredible Bleeding Woman: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLl5taDOTXckcuIdHg6yvfvAgT9EimmQcy&feature=shared
Isa Sanz Sangro Pero no Muero: https://www.isasanz.com/ensayos/sangro-pero-no-muero/
Judy Chicago Red Flag: https://judychicago.com/gallery/early-feminist/ef-artwork/
Petra Paul Menstrual Blood Pictures: http://mum.org/armenpau.htm
Vanessa Tiegs Menstrala: https://menstrala.com/
Menstrala on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Menstrala/
Zanele Muholi Interview with Toxic Lesbian https://youtu.be/OHmdPIgO47g?feature=shared
Zanele Muholi Only Half the Picture: https://archive.stevenson.info/exhibitions/muholi/muholi.htm
Zanele Muholi Isilumo siyaluma https://www.designindaba.com/articles/creative-work/period-pains
Sarah Levy Bloody Trump: https://www.sarahlevyart.com/#/bloody-trump/
Further Reading / Info
Beliefs, rituals and religious practices surrounding menstruation have existed for millennia, globally, and continue to this day in major religions including Judaism, Christianity, Buddhism and Islam. There’s also some limited research on potential links between menstrual and lunar cycles (full references in list below).
· On menstruation and the symbolism of the colour red in pre-Christian Britain see Hutton (2013).
· On menstrual taboos in major religions see Bhartiya (2013) and on menstruation taboos in Judeo-Christian religion see Phipps (1980).
· For readings on menstruation in Early Modern England see Crawford (1993); medieval European beliefs and practices around menstruation are explored in Bildhauer (2005, 2006, 2013, 2019).
· Foundational anthropological studies of menstruation across different cultures include Douglas (1966) and Buckley & Gottlieb (eds) (1989).
· Komada et al (2021) found no causal link between menstrual cycles and lunar cycles in their study of 529 women.
· Helfrich-Förster et al (2021) found some temporary synchronisation with lunar cycles in their analysis of long-term cycle data from 22 women, though they do not suggest their research reveals a causal link.
The Central Park Jogger case and more information about the Exonerated Five can be found through the Innocence Project: https://innocenceproject.org/cases/antron-mccray/
Listen to Stupid Genius PhD Podcast for some background lore about how Bee accidentally became a menstrual artist: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/ep-59-researching-feminst-art-and-inclusivity/id1669102380?i=1000650587797
References
Battersby, C. (1998) Stuffing and nothing more: Irigaray, painting and psychoanalysis”, in Deepwell, Katy (ed.) New feminist art criticism. Critical strategies, pp. 234-235, Cátedra, Madrid.
Bhartiya, A (2013) Menstruation, Religion and Society, Internationka Journal of Social Science and Humanity, 3(6), pp. 523-527. DOI: 10.7763/IJSSH.2013.V3.296
Bitch HQ (2012) Sm{art}: 5 Menstrual Blood Artists/Projects Worth Seeing, Bitch Media, 28 March 2012, Available at: https://www.bitchmedia.org/post/smart-menstrual-blood-art-feminism
Carr, M. (2019) Dr Carnesky’s Incredible Bleeding Woman: Reinventing Menstrual Rituals Through New Performance Practices, Doctoral Thesis, School of Media and Performing Arts, Middlesex University.
Crawford, P (1993) Women and Religion in England 1500 – 1720, London & New York: Routledge
BBC (2015) Sculptor Anish Kapoor defends Versailles 'vagina' artwork, BBC News, 5 June 2015, Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-33030781 (Accessed 17 February 2026)
Bildhauer, B (2005) The Secrets of Women (c. 1300): A Medieval Perspective on Menstruation, in G Howie & A Shail (eds) Menstruation: A Cultural History, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan
Bissonauth, N (2014) Zanele Muholi’s Affective Appeal to Act, Photography & Culture, 7(3), 239-252, DOI: 10.2752/175145214X14153800234801
Coetzee, C (2019) Written Under the Skin: Blood and Intergenerational Memory in South Africa, Woodbridge & Rochester: James Currey & Johannesburg: Wits University Press
Deepwell, K (1999) Interview with Kirsten Justesen, n-paradoxa, 3: Body, Space and Memory, January 1999, 30–43
Douglas, M (2001/1966) Purity and Danger: An Analysis of the Concepts of Pollution and Taboo, London & New York: Routledge
Erchull, M. J. (2013) Distancing through objectification? Depictions of women’s bodies in menstrual product advertisements. Sex Roles, 68(1–2), 32–40. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-011-0004-7
Fahs, B., & Collins, M. (2024) ‘In the wardrobe of her royal daintiness: A historical analysis of menstrual product advertisements from the 1920s to the 2020s. Women’s Reproductive Health, 11(4), 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1080/23293691.2024.2345084
Helfrich-Förster, C. et al. (2021) Women temporarily synchronize their menstrual cycles with the luminance and gravimetric cycles of the Moon.Sci. Adv.7,eabe1358. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abe1358
Hughes, B. (2025) Conceptual Framings of Menstruation in 20th-Century British Menstrual Product Advertising: Visible Stigma, Invisible Bleeding. Women’s Reproductive Health, pp. 1–34. https://doi.org/10.1080/23293691.2025.2472152
Hutton, R (2013) Pagan Britain, New Haven: Yale University Press.
Irigaray, L. (1985) That sex which is not one. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
Johnston-Robledo, I., & Chrisler, J. C. (2011). The menstrual mark: Menstruation as social stigma. Sex Roles, 68(1–2), 9–18. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-011-0052-z
Kissling, E. A. (2006) Capitalizing on the curse: The business of menstruation. Lynn Rienner.
Kissling, E. A. (2013) Pills, periods, and postfeminism: The new politics of marketing birth control. Feminist Media Studies, 13(3), 490–504. https://doi.org/10.1080/14680777.2012.712373
Komada, Y., Sato, M., Ikeda, Y., Kami, A., Masuda, C., & Shibata, S. (2021). The Relationship between the Lunar Phase, Menstrual Cycle Onset and Subjective Sleep Quality among Women of Reproductive Age. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(6), 3245. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18063245
Makhubu, NM (2012) Violence and the Cultural Logics of Pain: Representations of Sexuality in the Work of Nicholas Hlobo and Zanele Muholi, Critical Arts: South-North Cultural and Media Studies, 26(4), 504-524, DOI: 10.1080/02560046.2012.723843
Mantecon, M. (date unknown) SANGRO, PERO NO MUERO. Online essay. Available at: https://www.isasanz.com/ensayos/sangro-pero-no-muero/
Sánchez-Manzano, M. (2024) Filming the Embodied Experience: Menstruation Through Lesbian Desire, Conference Presentation, Menstruation Research Network 2024 Conference, Inclusive Menstruation: Practice, Research, Action, LJMU, Watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sC6-mBcmmkc&list=PL3baqKU6V0eFjbdoCGfM6Dn8OSl_gykfH
Martinčič, J (2016) Let it Bleed – Art’s Revival of Menstrual Blood, The Guardian, 2 December 2016, Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/dec/12/let-it-bleed-artsrevival-of-menstrual-blood [Accessed 30 December 2019]
Minissale, G. (2013) The Psychology of Contemporary Art. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Phipps, W.E. (1980) The Menstrual Taboo in the Judeo-Christian Tradition, Journal of Religion and Health, 19, 298-303, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00996252
Røstvik, C.M. (2019) Blood Works: Judy Chicago and Menstrual Art Since 1970, Oxford Art Journal, 42(3), December 2019, pp.335–353, https://doi.org/10.1093/oxartj/kcz021
Røstvik, C.M. (2023) Seeing Red: Menstrual Art and Political Portraiture in the Trump Era. Konsthistorisk Tidskrift/Journal of Art History, 92(4), pp. 245–263. https://doi.org/10.1080/00233609.2023.2280032
Selvick, S. (2015) ‘Positive Bleeding: Violence and Desire in Works by Mlu Zondi, Zanele Muholi, and Makhosazana Xaba’, Safundi, 16(4), pp. 443–465. DOI: 10.1080/17533171.2015.1081353.
Shaw, A (2019) Anish Kapoor unveils new paintings that evoke menstruation, The Art Newspaper, 14 May 2019, Available at: https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2019/05/14/anish-kapoor-unveils-new-paintings-that-evoke-menstruation [Accessed 17 February 2026]
Vartanian, H (2013) Calm Down, Menstrual Blood Isn’t a Big Deal, Hyperallergic, 25 June 2013, Available at: https://hyperallergic.com/74107/calm-down-menstual-blood-art-isnt-a-bigdeal/ [Accessed 1 April 2019]